b'TOP John Kioko With theseMuthimi rides a bike loaded with dynamics andmilk to deliver to the job space notlocal businesses in Wote, Kenya. having enoughHeifer works with dairy farmers employmentin East Africa to increase opportunities forproduction and provide youth, agriculturejobs for young people across still remains thethe value chain.biggest platform for job creation.integration into agriculture, and therefore we have the lowest yield per hectare in terms of productivity, because most of our food is still being produced by smallholder farmers with no access to infrastructure and no access to relevant technology to help them produce better.With these dynamics PHOTO BY RUSSELL POWELL and the job space not having enough employment opportunities for youth, agriculture still remains the biggest platform for job creation. Unfortunately, thats where the young people in Africa dont want to go to. entering the workforce, andshould be the basis on whichThats where their parents one-third of these numbers[Africa] can transformif thedont want them to go, because are unemployed, and evenyounger population can drivethe impression we have another one-third who areproductivity and drive theabout agriculture, because employed are in very, veryeconomy of the continent.its not driven by technology, vulnerable employmentis that it is not aspirational conditions and not receiving aWhat role does agriculturefor the youth. These are two significant or reasonable wage. play in this?interesting dynamics that can The interesting thingWe have an aging populationpositively or negatively impact about this challenge is thatof farmers. We have a hugethe future of the continent. this should be a huge potential[amount of] arable land. We[Success] depends on how for the continent. Thishave the least technologywell we are able to leverage it HEIFER.ORG |17'